Riding My Own Ride
Monday, September 23rd, 2019
No, I don’t lean that far.
I went out to ride with the Wednesday morning group from the RMMRC and it turned out to be just three of us this time. As we pulled out of the parking lot, me in the middle, it occurred to me I was with Robert and Dave, who I have come to think of as the “Go Fast Buddies.”
I’ve ridden with these guys before, but in larger groups. They’re always out in front, getting further and further ahead. The last time we were leaving Deckers and I inadvertently got between the two of them and it wasn’t long before Robert blasted past me and then the two of them took off.
So here I was again, in between them. That got sorted out pretty quickly, however, in the heavy traffic on I-25. A truck pulled in between me and Dave, who was leading, and before I could see an opening to pass the truck Robert raced past us both using the exit lane. He caught up with Dave quickly enough but we were pretty far west on C-470 before I caught up with them.
All this time I was thinking about what was ahead on this ride. I just told myself I was going to ride my own ride, period.
We got off C-470 at Wadsworth, then turned west on the road up Deer Creek Canyon. I knew what was coming. It was going to get curvy and they were going to go fast. But I was also thinking about the fact that I’m not a half bad rider myself. And I have spent years deliberately practicing leaning off the bike so as to take a curve at higher speed with the bike not leaned over excessively. I decided that my own ride that I was going to ride was going to include seeing how close I could keep with them while still feeling secure and in control, that is to say, not scaring myself.
And I did pretty darn good. From Deer Creek Canyon to Turkey Creek Canyon the turns got tighter and while there were occasions when due to the curves I lost sight of them ahead of me, all it took was a little more straight and there they were, not that far ahead.
We did a bunch more twisty roads and I held my own. But I could never keep right up with them. And that got me thinking, too.
I can take curves kind of fast because I lean off the bike to provide counter weight to keep the bike upright, in the way that racers do when they lean off so far they drag their knee pucks on the ground. I never saw the Go Fast Buddies do any leaning of this sort. They were both on recent model Gold Wings, which appear to have very low centers of gravity. All my bikes have high centers of gravity, although on this day I was on my CB750, which is the lowest of the three.
Still, this is something I have observed many times with the OFMC, how these guys with their lower bikes can always go faster than me around curves. Without leaning off the bike.
Maybe some day I’ll have a bike with a low center of gravity. Then watch out. I just might become a member of the go-fast community.
Biker Quote for Today
Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: Our idea of dressing up is putting on a clean black t-shirt.
